


A small afternoon

by Tenebris369



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/M, Romance, Short Story, Teslen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 12:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14497260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenebris369/pseuds/Tenebris369
Summary: One afternoon Helen Magnus is focused on her work but Nikola Tesla appears sick, she can't help but be concerned - yet he has another hidden agenda...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh, it's my second fic!  
> I hope it's good enough for the Teslen fans..
> 
> I also have a James Watson/John Druitt fic posted - in case you're interested.

A stressful afternoon for Helen Magnus was something rather typical, of course with Tesla there it'd be even more stressful - but thankfully he was in the wine cellar, that meant peace for her.  
The problem wasn't that urgent, she was rather just checking all the abnormals - she had gotten weird readings on most of them thus she decided to personally check the issue herself.  
The team was away on a mission to catch a very rare abnormal - they all tagged along so it'd be faster, but Helen felt rather lonely - just her in that Sanctuary, even the Big Guy was away, he said he needed a little vacation.  
Of course Tesla was there with her - but he was mostly a nuisance, he would bug Helen from time to time - her response was always an eyeroll or a tired sigh.  
  
As Nikola was opening up the oldest bottles and drinking that wine as if it were water, Helen was beginning to find her inner peace, the Sanctuary was rather quiet, felt like the good old days...just her and the abnormals.   
Suddenly the arrogant vampire began coughing rather roughly, he placed a hand to cover his mouth and the other against the wall as the impulse was so strong, he felt himself strongly light-headed but resisted.  
_''What's happening?''_ He thought to himself as he felt his whole head spinning, after a bit the pain went away and he left the cellar.  
He went to the library to continue his research, ah...the research - Helen had no idea of its existence, although she was quite suspicious of his sudden will to help her - she didn't **need** his help but...she didn't want to be alone either.  
  
"Yes, that's got to be it!" Helen Magnus suddenly spoke out loud as she finished analyzing the scans to their fullest, apparently the issue wasn't even that major - it seemed that the abnormals' environment settings had been changed.  
She quickly fixed it, a little button here, a little button there - it was all good.  
Except for the fact of how the environment settings suddenly got changed, her staff wouldn't do it. It was probably just a glitch, she was probably just overthinking, she did that a lot that's why she was often tired.  
As she left the abnormals she came across a tired looking Nikola.  
  
"Ah, Helen...looking ever so beautiful." The vampire said as he gazed into her eyes with his typical smirk.  
She smiled sort of, she knew he was hiding something from her - after so many years of knowing someone you can pretty much tell what they're feeling or thinking.  
"Tell me, Nikola, what are you doing in the library, checking another Whitman verse?" Helen asked him, obviously knowing that wasn't the reason as to why he was there.  
"Actually no, I'm just taking a break, geniuses need breaks, Helen. You can't make this perfect brain work all the time and deal with humans as well, it's too much." The arrogant Serbian replied in a tired tone but a hint of amusement on his voice, he always loved raising his ego - he couldn't really help it, but Helen was used to it by now.  
"Of course, Nikola. You're such a genius." She replied sarcastically as she rolled her eyes teasingly, she slowly approached him as he was setting down a glass of wine.  
Once he met her eyes, a soft yet gentle smile formed on his face, Oxford memories emerging. 

"Oh I should tell you, I found out what was the problem with the abnormals - apparently the environment settings had been changed but I still need to find out why." Helen said as she was determined to finding the cause.  
"I see. Interes..-" As the vampire was replying to her, he suddenly felt something strike him - some sort of invisible force, his eyes widened as he suddenly started coughing blood.  
A sharp pain in his chest, it was as if someone had hit him with a laser beam on its highest potential - he held his hands to his chest, trying not to groan in pain.  
"Nikola!" Helen said in shock as she grabbed him, seeing him coughing blood like that, seeing his painful expression - it worried her so much.  
"Bloody Hell! Are you alright? What happened?" She asked him as she was already more than ready to perform tests on him and take him to the infirmary, then she grabbed a handkerchief and cleaned the blood off his mouth with it.  
"Helen...I'm fine. Really. I'm perfectly fine, this was just a slip..." He replied in his typical _'everything is okay but I'm actually dying'_ tone, she knew that tone quite well.  
"You call this fine? And a slip, a slip of what exactly, Nikola?" Helen asked him, now stepping back and crossing her arms - it frustrated her how he could be so stubborn.  
"Helen, please. Look, I... probably just ate something bad or whatever and this happened." He said as an excuse, he couldn't waste his time on tests - he had bigger plans going on, and he couldn't stop.  
The woman sighed tiredly, she couldn't believe how stupid his excuse was but she wasn't wasting anymore time on this - if he wanted to be stubborn then so be it, he had always been like this after all.  
But there was no way she was letting him go, she was going to check on him every hour then.   
Although she did question why he was actually making no big deal out of it - usually when he was coughing blood he'd always make a big drama, but not today...he was definitely hiding something, and she was going to find out what.  
  
Nikola watched as she angrily walked out of the room, he sighed rather displeased with himself - he could've enjoyed that unique moment of feeling Helen's concern for him, her caring attitude and her touch, but he was too busy covering everything up that he completely missed it.  
The vampire continued with his investigation, after studying some major books - a smirk formed on his face, he had finally found the final compound to his weapon.  
"Perfect." He said pleased with himself as he took a sip of wine from his glass, after finishing it he put the glass down once again.  
The Serbian got on the elevator and made his way to Henry's workplace, that tiny place with ancient technology - everything was harder to build in there...but on the other hand - it was a challenge.   
  
Meanwhile Helen pushed all of her thoughts away, of course she was concerned about Nikola, of course she wanted to help him, of course she wanted to know what he was up to...but she had to set her priorities straight.  
After some research on the computer and the database, she found out that the Sanctuary's system had been corrupted by some sort of a virus - this was probably the cause of the issue that she had been dealing with earlier.  
She didn't know much about computers...ah, where's Henry when you need him?  
But she did have a 'genius' with her - perhaps Tesla could fix this easily since he had done something quite similar once before.  
_'Where is he though?'_   She wondered as she hadn't heard him for a while now.  
  
After 1 hour Tesla concluded his final design, the weapon was ready to be tested - its purpose was quite unique - a stunner gun that had both the ability to stun but to also act like a powerful laser, not as powerful as his death ray though.  
He never thought of this weapon to himself, he always preferred to use his vampiric powers to defeat his opponents - he had designed this weapon for Helen to use, to make things easier on those dangerous missions.  
Even if he always acted like an arrogant asshole whenever he could - he actually cared for her, he always loved her, and he couldn't stand her rejections.  
The vampire smirked proudly and happily. "It's showtime!" He said as he tested the weapon on some targets - it was perfect, it worked exactly like he had predicted, a flawless weapon.  
He put it down after working on some final adjustments, then suddenly he felt extremely hot as if he was on fire - he began sweating and took off his coat, throwing it on the floor quickly in a desperate move.  
The inventor leaned against the cold wall trying to fight that heat off but he was already feeling a bit faint again, he eventually just let himself slide all the way down to the floor, he was now sitting against the wall - sweating as fast as he was breathing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation and finalization of this cheesy story between two secret lovebirds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 - it's a bit longer but I hope you do read it, took me so much time, haha.  
> Please leave a review/comment so that I know if this is any good or not ;-;

Meanwhile Helen figured it had been enough time so she went after Tesla, seeing that he wasn't in any of his typical places - she headed to Henry's workplace, taking the elevator and trying to keep her posture.  
Once she got there - she didn't see Nikola anywhere, that is until she heard his heavy breathing and saw his coat on the floor.  
She looked down at him, confused, shocked and worried. "Nikola, what on Earth is going on with you? You're certainly not fine. You look like you could've a fever, please stop this nonsense and let me fix you." Helen said frustrated, why was he acting so weird today?  
"I'm fine. I just took my coat off because...this room has no air vents. So it's hot. Like me." The vampire replied - it began with a tired voice but ended with another flirt and a wink.  
She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Nikola! This is not the time for that, I'm fixing you right now whether you like it or not, damn it." The woman said further frustrated, she was tired of his little games, she was actually worrying sick - never once had he been this ill, it was scary.  
"Oh, so you're saying there is a time for that?" Nikola asked happily with a small smirk, that was the only way he was fighting the pain away.  
Helen rolled her eyes as she pulled him up, their eyes met for a few seconds but she looked away - only to notice his weapon laying there on the table.  
"Nikola...what is that?" She asked suspiciously as her eyes turned from the weapon to him - she was already imagining it to be some sort of mass destruction weapon or another vampire converter.   
"Oh...that. It's nothing really. Just a project." The Serbian replied with a smirk - acting as if it was something small but implying it was actually huge. "It's just a stunner gun that can stun and...evaporate your enemies." He continued as he looked into her eyes.  
She rose an eyebrow at him. "Could be useful - but we don't evaporate our enemies, Nikola. You know that fully well." She told him.  
"Yes, yes, peace and butterflies." The vampire said as he rolled his eyes. "It works as a laser so it'll get you almost anywhere, it's more productive and effective than the mission's disposable item." He added rather neutrally, not really caring if he was insulting her precious Protégé.   
"I see. Well, thank you, Nikola. But why did you build this?" She said initially feeling appreciated - until he insulted Will, like always she rolled her eyes at his comment.  
  
"Well, I..-" As he was about to tell her everything - he felt extremely faint once again and seemed to be falling back, Helen quickly caught him.  
"Never mind that now, I need to take care of you right away." She said as he looked into his eyes with some concern but also determination, then she put his arm around her neck so that she could help him walk as he'd probably fall if he walked on his own.  
Nikola felt dreamy with all of this, of course he was sick and in great pain - but on the other hand... Helen was being so sweet to him, so caring, her touch felt like an angel's touch - so pure and glorious.  
A smile formed on his face as he was daydreaming about Oxford again, those memories never seemed to leave him.  
As they both made their way to the infirmary, she laid him down on a stretcher and gazed at him - nothing but concern in her eyes.  
Nikola looked back as he was getting the perfect view...quite literally, the angle of his dreams you could say.  
"Helen, don't worry. I'm an immortal vampiric genius, I'll be fine." He told her softly with a smirk - yet arrogantly, raising his ego once more but not for his sake...for hers, even though he felt so good knowing she cared about him, he couldn't bare the thought of saddening her or concerning her far too much.  
"I hope you're right, Nikola." She said with a tired concerned sigh as she began doing all sorts of tests on him.  
  
"Hmm.." Helen muttered to herself as she was analyzing the results, she seemed too focused to notice that Nikola was almost passing out.  
"Ah!" She finally said as she looked at his blood samples and cross-referenced them with the Sanctuary's database.  
"Oh, Nikola.. I don't even know how this is possible but apparently you got infected with a virus that a certain very rare abnormal releases during its defense mechanism." She told him as she looked over at him while holding the analysis results in her hands.  
He faintly heard her but at least he did. "I guess everything just happens to me." The vampire replied exhaustively yet a bit dramatically with an eyeroll.  
"The good news is that I can come up with a cure in an hour, I have all the chemicals required since I've dealt with a similar case before - but I do need to observe this analysis better." She told him determined.  
"Okay, great, wonderful." Nikola replied with his 'dying' voice.  
"I don't exactly trust you in here with all this equipment, besides, you'll also try to get out of here - no doubt. So perhaps you should just...take a nap." She told him with a smirk.  
"What? Oh come on, Helen, who said anything about getting out of here? I'd never think about that." He said sarcastically in an amusing tone.  
Helen couldn't help but to smile at his reply. "Well, sweet dreams, my dear Nikola." She said sweetly as she inserted a sedative into his system, making him fall asleep shortly.  
  
After an hour - Helen came back with a compound that was in a vial. "Oh, I just hope this works.." She said to herself slightly nervous, it was no secret that she had failed on curing her patients before - but this was Nikola - it was different, he had to be okay, he had to be fixed, she wouldn't forgive herself if she couldn't fix him.  
She grabbed a syringe and injected the compound into it then she injected it into Tesla's arm - hoping that this would cure him.  
After 35 minutes Tesla woke up to Helen in front of him taking tests and analyzing the results, he looked at her as she seemed a bit anxious.  
She finally noticed his gaze and returned it. "Oh, Nikola, you're awake. Well, so far the cure seems to be working but I can only know after 24 hours." She told him seriously.  
"Oh come on, I'm already feeling fine! Not that I don't appreciate your work but...being stuck in here isn't all that amazing - of course you make it so much better - but this place is still very boring." He said softly, first beginning with a very light whine but then ending with an half smirk.  
"Oh, Nikola, please." She said with a smile, his flirting was just amusing to her.  
He grabbed the analysis results from her hands and checked them out himself as he got up from the stretcher. "See? My blood pattern is back to normal. No anomalies, no viruses, no nothing. Now can I please go?" Tesla said, almost with a light whine at the end.  
Helen sighed but she knew there was no point in arguing with him. "Alright, fine, Nikola. You may go, but don't come back if you aren't actually fully healed. Recoveries don't happen from one hour to another!" She told him as she looked at him.  
"Helen, Helen...Vampire, remember?" He said with an arrogant smirk as he looked into her eyes.  
She rolled her eyes when she suddenly remembered.  
  
"Can you just do me one small favour?" She asked him curiously.  
"Anything for you." Tesla said seductively.   
"Right... Well, could you just get rid of the virus that broke into the system? It's affecting the mainframe as well as the abnormal's habitats." Helen replied awkwardly to his seduction but then proceeded to business.   
"Sure, I'll do it in a second. Just watch me." He said with a smirk as he headed to the computer and began his work.  
"Ah, the little devil thinks he's smarter than me. He's simply forgetting that I'm an amazing genius." The vampire said arrogantly with a smirk stomped on his face.  
After a few minutes - Nikola turned to face her with the same smirk. "See? All done. I guess I'm just that amazing." He said teasingly as he looked at her.  
Helen sighed happily, glad to see him back to himself - she couldn't bare to see him in pain after all.  
"Oh, you forgot to answer that question of mine though.." She reminded him, the question she had asked right before he felt sick again.  
"Right, the weapon. Well...I designed it because I just thought you needed something like that. You know...just a little gift." He said slightly hesitant, and she noticed it.  
"Really, Nikola? That's all there is to it?" She asked him as she crossed her arms, gazing at him.  
"Alright, alright, fine. I just felt bad about causing you so much trouble over the years and all, I guess this is my compensation for it." He admitted with a sigh.  
"Never thought you were the type for redemption or even feeling guilty." She said rather suspiciously.  
"Nor did I until I realized...it's just us Helen, the others are all gone. We are the last of the Five. I thought that maybe I shouldn't really lose you to something as small as my ego." Nikola said a bit sadly.  
She was rather shocked by this change in attitude - but she had seen this side of him before. "Is this your human side talking, Nikola? Because if it is... I did miss it. But there's no need for you to become depressed due to this. I'd never hate you." Helen said first softly, then dreamily and then certain.   
The vampire looked into her eyes as she looked into his. "Oh, Helen, I miss us...back in Oxford. Maybe it's just my soul crushing depression talking but  _I don't want to lose you._ " As he spoke his tone was giving away his sadness and his love for her as well.  
Helen felt touched by his words which was something rare but he was right, at some point it was all gone... the Five, the dreams, the loved ones... but she still had Nikola.  
"Oh, Nikola.." She said softly yet sadly as she leaned in and kissed his cheek, embracing him ever so tightly.  
The Serbian was slightly shocked by her sudden affection but he slowly held Helen back and closed his eyes - just enjoying their moment, their warmth, their love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> If you like this fic please leave a kudos or a comment, just so I know if it's good or not ;-;


End file.
